The Best Moments In Reading Are When You Come Across Something- A Thought, A Feeling, A Way At Looking At Things- Which You Had Thought Special And Particular To You. And Now, Here It Is, Set Down By Someone Else, A Person You Have Never Met, Someone Who Is Even Long Dead. And It Is As If A Hand Has Come Out, And Taken Yours.

Wednesday, April 29, 2015

Sally Lockhart: The Shadow in the North

where I bought mine: I received mine as a wonderful gift, however you can get yours from Bookdepository or Amazon.

Back cover:

Will the sea give up its dead?

The year is 1876, and the spirited Sally Lockhart, once again defying Victorian sensibilities, has gone into business for herself. When one of her clients loses a large sum of money in the unexpected collapse of a British shipping firm, Sally sets out to investigate. But as she delves deeper into the identity of the wealthy and elusive industrialist who owns the doomed company, she uncovers a plot so diabolical that it could eventually subvert the entire civilized world-and if Sally’s enemies have their way, she won’t live long enough to see it happen.

Once again I was pleasantly surprised with another delightful Sally Lockhart mystery. Usually I like the first book in a series most, since it is most original and we also find out the entire point of the series, however this sequel was definitely even better than the first book. The characters got realer, and their emotions and feelings were expressed more clearly. Sally herself changed a lot, not only because she is six years older than in the first book, but also more sophisticated and wise. She isn’t perfect, but she doesn’t play at someone who she isn’t. She also falls in love with Frederick, and it isn’t a perfect love, like in other book and movies. It is deeper, and even though they have arguments and sometimes dont talk to each other, there was no way I could have ever imagined them apart. They still love each other, no matter what and that was truly what I loved; it was simply not shallow. The book got mildly slow-paced in the middle, but after that every chapter brought changes. Good and bad ones, sadly enough. The book gets really sad after that until the very end, and I am still not completely over it. That is another great thing about this series; it really gets you thinking about the plot days after you read it, The characters never really leave. I must say, that so far it is definitely one of my favorite series, and it just feels super special every time I delve into Sally’s world. What I also really enjoy in Pullman’s books, is that he doesn’t make his books ‘’childish’’ or does not alter them or mold the plot, to especially appeal to a certain age group. He makes his writing packed with action, and a little scariness. Every author has his/her own writing style, but Pullman’s along with Neil Gaiman’s is very unique.

The story itself is set about six years after the Ruby in the Smoke, but this time Sally investigates the loss of money of one of her clients. Her client lost her money by investing it in a company called North Star Holdings. There would be nothing strange about this except, that it seems to be set up to purposefully to make investors lose their money. She finds out that the whole plot seems to be revolving around the owner of this company and his diabolical plan. He intends to use a weapon he made that is not intended to fight against enemies, but is designed for rulers to fight their own people...